Video shows hospital in Lebanon, not hostel struck in Air India crash

Published on June 20, 2025 at 05:02
3 min read
By Devesh MISHRA, AFP India

Days after an Air India passenger jet crashed shortly after takeoff into a residential area of Ahmedabad, a compilation circulated in social media posts falsely claiming it showed the impact of the plane smashing into a medical college's hostel in the western Indian city. While the London-bound aircraft did hit the building, the footage in fact shows a hospital in southern Lebanon.

"CCTV footage from BJ Medical College Hospital captures the terrifying moment an Air India plane crashed into the hospital premises, bursting into flames in just seconds," reads the caption of the compilation shared June 14, 2025 on Facebook.

The compilation shows an explosion near a building that showers an adjacent car park with rubble. Shots from what appears to be the inside of the building show people taking cover as the ceiling collapses.

Superimposed text in the top-left corner reads "srhuhospital", and a logo with the initials "SRHUH" appears in the bottom-left.

The footage circulated two days after a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London ploughed into a residential area of India's Ahmedabad city (archived link).

The fiery crash killed all but one of the 242 passengers and crew on board, as well as at least 38 people on the ground.

Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured June 16, 2025

The same video also spread in similar Facebook and X posts.

While Air India flight 171 did crash through a hostel for medical staff from a nearby hospital, leaving its tailpiece jutting out of the building's second floor, the video has circulated online since February.

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the video led to the same footage posted February 5 on Instagram by the Lebanon-based Ragheb Harb University Hospital (archived link).

The clips appear in a longer video detailing the hospital's restoration after being damaged.

The "SRHUH" logo and "srhuhospital" are visible in the Instagram page's bio.

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (L) and the Instagram video from February, with elements highlighted by AFP

Images of the hospital on Google Maps also correspond to the footage circulating online (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (L) and an image of the hospital on Google Maps, with similarities highlighted by AFP

According to local media reports and a post on the hospital's Facebook page, the hospital was damaged in November 2024 (archived here, here and here).

At the time, border clashes between Israeli forces and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah had escalated into all-out war (archived link).

A US-mediated ceasefire requiring Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters from the border strip ended the war in November 2024. Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon since the ceasefire went into effect, with no response from Hezbollah.

AFP previously debunked false claims that the clip shows an Iranian strike on Israel. More reporting on misinformation about the Air India crash is available here.

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